Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Message in a Bottle

I was worried about my EWIS course after a few students dropped, but this e-note is encouraging:

I am so glad that I . . . [am taking Professor Hodges'] class. When I talk to him, I get to know what I want to write about. He has insights that take me beyond what I previously had in mind. I have always struggled with coming up with thesis statement because I thought I have to read all related articles before knowing what I want to write about. But in fact, I figured out today that I already know what I was interested in. Also, comments he makes in class are changing my perception that writing is difficult. Simple sayings - like, "There is always something to write about" [or] "Don't despair if you find an article dealing with issues you wanted to discuss" - give me confidence that I can do this! . . . I am glad that I took EWIS and look forward to end product of this course!

About Me

I am a professor at Ewha Womans University, where I teach composition, research writing, and cultural issues, including the occasional graduate seminar on Gnosticism and Johannine theology and the occasional undergraduate course on European history.
My doctorate is in history (U.C. Berkeley), with emphasis on religion and science. My thesis is on John's gospel and Gnosticism.
I also work as one-half of a translating team with my wife, and our most significant translation is Yi Kwang-su's novel The Soil, which was funded by the Literature Translation Institute of Korea.
I'm also an award-winning writer, and I recommend my novella, The Bottomless Bottle of Beer, to anyone interested.
I'm originally from the Arkansas Ozarks, but my academic career -- funded through doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships (e.g., Fulbright, Naumann, Lady Davis) -- has taken me through Texas, California, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, and Israel and has landed me in Seoul, South Korea. I've also traveled to Mexico, visited much of Europe, including Moscow, and touched down briefly in a few East Asian countries.
Hence: "Gypsy Scholar."